


and i'll not go to the waves

by NoirSongbird



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Keith, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Background Adam/Lotor, Background Hunk/Lance/Romelle, Dark Shiro/Sendak, Eventual Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Imprisonment, Kidnapping, Knotting, M/M, Omega Shiro, Referenced Past Lotor/Sendak, Rescue, Selkie Shiro, referenced abuse, referenced rape/non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:00:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22029730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoirSongbird/pseuds/NoirSongbird
Summary: Moving across the country from Arizona to Portland, Maine for graduate school might seem extreme, but for Keith Kogane, it feels like the only possibility. Phoenix is just too full of bad memories, and Portland promises a new start. Besides, going from the desert to the seaside is definitely a positive change, and sure, his classmates are a little weird, but Adam and Lance are some of the first people to genuinely take to him, Keith, the person.Then, he meets a handsome stranger on the beach, and gets drawn into something far more magical than he ever could have imagined.Shiro, as it turns out, is a selkie, captured a year ago by local professional rich bastard Maurice Sendak. Sendak has kept Shiro locked away, and only recently allowed him more freedom of movement, because Sendak has a guarantee that his precious selkie will always come home to him: Shiro's sealskin, locked away in an iron safe. With the help of Keith and his friends, they'll have to recover Shiro's sealskin so that he can flee home to the sea.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 76
Collections: Sheith Big Bang 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my fic for the Sheith Big Bang 2019, and I'm so excited to get to present it to you all <3 It features art by the amazing [hazelek,](https://twitter.com/hzlkx) who you sohuld absolutely check out because she's fantastic.
> 
> Also a big thanks to Alex/genovianprince, who betaed this fic for me <3
> 
> Title is from the Heather Dale song ["The Maiden and the Selkie"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGT5lBve_v4)!

Seals were a common enough sight in Casco Bay - they climbed on the rocks and basked on the shore, and were a tourist attraction in and of themselves. Mostly, though, seals were common during the _day -_ a large white seal climbing onto shore in the middle of the night was an unusual sight. So too was that seal turning into a _man._

Shiro sighed and stretched, picking up his sealskin and folding it carefully, then tucking it in among the rocks. It was a beautiful summer night, and he intended to enjoy a few quiet hours of wandering the city. Humans were _endlessly_ fascinating, and whenever he could, he liked to come ashore and mingle among them and enjoy how _lively_ they were.

Fair Folk parties were wild, certainly, and there were plenty of them, but they couldn’t compare, in Shiro’s opinion, to the sheer vitality of mortals. It was like they were conscious of how short their lives were and they were insistent on cramming as much into it as they could. 

He was taking risks every time he came on shore, he knew that, but how many people even knew what selkies _were,_ anymore? How many people would find his sealcoat and understand its significance?

It was a risk, sure, but it didn’t really _feel_ like one. And the reward was hours spent wandering a mortal city, tasting their food, enjoying their drinks, browsing their shops. Hours Shiro could spend feeling _alive,_ in a way he never did among his own people. He drew plenty of attention - his unique prosthetic, built by a Fae armorer, was certainly like nothing that existed among mortals, and he was conscious of the fact that he was tall and well-built and handsome, as a human, in the form he took. But that was just another thing to enjoy - people found him _interesting,_ and he found them interesting right back.

He made his way back to the beach about half an hour before midnight, and moved to the rocky outcrop where he’d left his sealskin. Or, at least, the outcrop here he’d been _sure_ he left it. He moved stones and unearthed the hiding place he’d made, and found it empty.

“Come on,” Shiro mumbled, poking around further. Surely it had to be here—he just must have misremembered where he put it. Because if it wasn’t, that meant…terrible things. Things Shiro didn’t even want to think about.

“Looking for something?” A darkly amused voice asked from behind him. Shiro whirled and stared, mouth gaping in shock.

There was a _human_ holding his sealcoat. A tall, broad man with a patch over one eye and a strange, bulky prosthetic arm of his own. He was wearing a very, very smug grin, and it only got smugger the more horrified Shiro became. He also absolutely _reeked_ of Alpha musk, 

“Give that back,” Shiro said sharply.

“You know,” the man said, “I don’t think I will.” Almost casually, he moved into Shiro’s space, and when Shiro started to back away, he clicked his tongue. “None of that,” he said, and Shiro froze in place, compelled by the power his sealskin granted. The man cupped his chin and bent down, nuzzling against his scent gland and inhaling deeply. Shiro felt sick—worse, he felt _afraid._ Never in his immortal life had he really grasped what it was to be helpless; there was always some way he could escape.

Not anymore.

“Mm, an Omega,” the man sighed, contentedly.

“Would you have thrown me back if I wasn’t?” Shiro bit out.

“If you were an Alpha,” the man replied. “Now, tell me your name. Here, I’ll even give you mine. It’s Maurice. Maurice Sendak.”

“Takashi Shirogane,” Shiro said, unwillingly.

“Takashi. What a lovely name,” Maurice said, his voice practically a purr. “You’re going to come home with me, and you’re going to behave. You can do that, can’t you?”

“Yes,” Shiro growled.

“Yes, _sir,”_ Sendak said.

“There’s no need to call me ‘sir,’” Shiro snarked, which made Sendak growl and dig his nails into Shiro’s chin. To Shiro’s surprise and horror, he produced a knife, and pressed it to the bridge of Shiro’s nose. It burned against his skin, and he struggled, trying to pull away, but it just made the knife actually slice in, which made the burning so, so much worse. Iron, it had to be.

“None of that. You’re going to respect me properly, fey, or I’ll make you regret it.” He smiled, poisonous. “And while you’re learning how, we can find other uses for that mouth of yours.”

Shiro swallowed. He had no desire to imagine what Sendak meant, and no doubt that he was going to find out.

* * *

Portland in August felt the way Portland in August always had - warm, but a softer kind of warmth than Keith was used to in Arizona. Applying for USM for graduate school had been half a whim, because he had fond memories of summers in Portland with his Dad in the years before he’d gotten sick. Somehow, those memories managed to not be tainted by the loss of his father, unlike everything back at their house in Phoenix. 

They’d offered him financial assistance, and he was able to cover the rest of the tuition and then some with loans; the “and then some” covered rent in a small off-campus apartment. It was a good deal, all around, Keith was pretty sure, especially since if he wanted to go _anywhere_ with a history degree he’d need at least a Masters if not a PhD.

Getting out of Arizona had been the best decision he could have made, realistically. Everything there felt too close to home, and...damn it, he missed his dad.

He’d thought he was okay with loss. His mom had walked out the door one day and never come home, and that was something he’d come to terms with fairly young. It was hard to hold a grudge against someone you could barely remember, and his dad had stepped up to parent as best as he could, and he’d never acted like he resented Krolia for leaving. Whatever had called her away, it was clearly enough for Heath Kogane to feel like he didn’t need to bear a grudge. He made sure Keith was well taken care of and happy, and he’d taken him to visit his grandparents in Portland every year until they’d both passed; even after that, they’d come back.

And then he’d gotten sick. Aggressive leukemia. Keith had done his best to hold things together, but money was tight and the treatments were rough, and eventually it had all been too much. His dad died halfway through his senior year of college, and Keith was left alone.

At least it had made picking up and moving across the country as easy as possible. There was no need to worry about flying home for visits because no one was waiting for him at home. 

Besides, Portland was starting to feel pretty home-y, even though it was totally different from where he’d grown up. He even sort of felt welcomed into college life. He’d met Lance Esparza in one of his classes, and after they got over some mutual dumbass Alpha posturing, Lance had insistently introduced him to his boyfriend Hunk, an absolute softie who also happened to be an excellent cook, and their girlfriend Romelle, who was definitely not a university student and had once described her job as “professional egirl” and refused to elaborate. Romelle’s old friend Lotor and his boyfriend Adam rounded out their group.

Keith had never exactly been much of a social butterfly; being thrown in the middle of an established group that was actually _happy to have him around_ was a little bit overwhelming but also kind of amazing. They welcomed him like they’d known him their entire lives, and it left him feeling like he was actually putting down roots and getting comfortable.

He was getting familiar with Portland, too—familiar enough to know that he could leave his last class of the day, walk down Commercial Street, and get to the Eastern Promenade just in time for sunset over the water. He’d thought desert sunsets were incredible, but _ocean_ sunsets were something else. The colors playing off the water took his breath away. He’d been worried that he wouldn’t be able to see them, that the angle and direction would be all wrong, but he’d wandered out one evening and just...watched, and the view was utterly magical. It wasn’t _perfect,_ of course—he suspected he’d have to be out on one of the islands to get the best possible view—but it was still a hell of a thing.

He wasn’t usually _alone,_ of course _,_ because at least a few other people always had the same idea, but it was still magical to find a seat on the rocky part of the East End Beach and stare out at the waves and just...enjoy it all. He could even usually pretend he was the only one there, because it was peaceful and perfect and he didn’t have to think about anything except how humbled he was by the vastness of the water and the colors of the dying sun.

He never brought his friends along because he wasn’t sure they’d get it, and it was hard to explain why he found it so fascinating. Besides, Hunk, Romelle, and Lotor were Portland natives and Lance was from Florida, so they’d all grown up by the sea, which meant it wasn’t exactly likely that any of them would Get It, and even though Adam was a Brooklyn native, he just never struck Keith as given to romantic nonsense. 

So he found his seat along the rocky shore and took it all in in a reverent sort of silence, tuning out the chatter of people around him and focusing on the tableau in the sky and on the sea.

“Mind if I sit here?” The voice was unfamiliar, and Keith glanced over and up at the source it came from - a man, standing next to him and looking a little sheepish.

He was, in Keith’s estimation, probably the handsomest man Keith had ever seen. Tall and broad, with dark hair in a long ponytail and a forelock over his forehead that was bright white. The most striking feature on his lovely face, though, was a scar that slashed across the bridge of his nose. He gave Keith an awkward little smile, and Keith actually managed to give one back.

“Sure,” he said. 

“Thanks.” The man sat down next to him and wrapped his arms around his legs, which gave Keith a look at the strange brass (maybe?) prosthetic one of them had been replaced with. It was almost bizarrely detailed, intricate, and shaped more like a real hand than most artificial limbs Keith had seen. He knew the technology was advancing fairly rapidly, but the elegant, almost steampunk aesthetic of this particular one seemed somehow otherworldly. Like it belonged in some kind of urban fantasy setting, not on a regular beach in regular Portland. Actually, all of the stranger looked otherworldly, highlighted by the setting sun on the water. 

Keith had to force himself to look away, so he wouldn’t get caught checking out some gorgeous stranger. 

[ ](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/618835969877213193/661285980241788938/selkieAU-fin.jpg)

“I’ve seen you here before,” the man said idly.

“I try to get out here most evenings to watch the sunset,” Keith said, and he couldn’t help but be a little thrilled that this man had noticed _him._ “Uh, I’m Keith, by the way.”

“Shiro,” the man introduced himself. “It is magical to see it on the water, isn’t it?” 

“It’s something else,” Keith agreed. “You out here often?”

“Often enough,” Shiro said. “It’s a nice place to sit and think.”

“Yeah,” Keith agreed. He tried to focus on the sunset, but he kept sneaking glances over at the man next to him. Shiro shifted to a more relaxed position, legs stretched out and arms behind him, and Keith swore he could hear Shiro faintly humming, but he couldn’t recognize the tune. It was light and upbeat, and Keith could have listened to it for as long as Shiro wanted to hum.

Keith just...let himself stare, because Shiro seemed thoroughly intent on other things. 

Until Shiro glanced over, and caught his eyes, and smiled at him, and Keith jerked his gaze away and flushed bright red.

“You seem distracted,” Shiro said softly.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Keith mumbled. Shiro laughed, briefly, and then he stood.

“I should go,” he said, “it’s getting late, and I’m expected home. But…” He laid a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Maybe we’ll run into each other again.” 

“Uh, yeah,” Keith agreed, and he was hyper-conscious of the fact that he sounded kind of like an idiot, “maybe.”

He watched Shiro go for as long as he could, and only after he was out of sight did Keith stand up to start walking home.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith kept going back to that beach - he liked it anyway, but now there was extra reason for him to make sure he got down there every night at sunset. He’d never been this taken with someone who was, by all rights, a total stranger, but there was something special about Shiro. 

It might just have been that Shiro was soft and gentle, and something in Keith desperately wanted to protect him. It might be sheer curiosity, because he was fascinatingly mysterious. It could just have been that, frankly, Keith was very bisexual and Shiro was very handsome and very much his type.

It became a daily ritual. He’d head down to the Promenade at sunset, and Shiro would be waiting, with a broad smile, and would wave Keith over to sit by him. Their chats came easy; Keith found himself opening up without reservation, because Shiro’s gentle concern and soft manner made him feel safe. Shiro never judged or accused, just gave him a soft, sparkly-eyed face of genuine, kind concern, and Keith opened up. He talked about his parents, his absent mother and his father who’d done the best he could until he couldn’t anymore. About his friends, and how even though he could tell Lotor and Adam were happy, there was always a certain pall over the two of them, especially whenever families came up in discussion. About his classes, and how he was settling in, and everything he could think of.

On the flip side, though, Shiro was cagey. Keith didn’t miss that as much as he encouraged Keith to disclose, he talked little about himself. In fact, Keith could count the facts he’d managed to gather about Shiro on one hand.

One: he “was and wasn’t” from Portland. His family was far away and he was out of contact with them, though.

Two: he, like Keith, had lost both his parents.

Three: “Shiro” wasn’t his actual first name, though he refused to reveal what it  _ was. _

Four: he had a boyfriend, named Maurice, who he was living with. This fourth fact broke Keith’s heart—not just because it meant that Keith’s burgeoning crush was utterly pointless, but because the way Shiro talked about Maurice, he was not a good man, by any stretch of the imagination. Keith desperately wanted to feel as if there was something he could do to help, but Shiro was barely willing to  _ talk  _ about it. He wasn’t exactly making Keith feel as if he could  _ interfere. _

Still, for several weeks, they met regularly, talked, and got to know each other. Then, without warning, Shiro stopped coming.

The first night, Keith brushed it off. The second, he began to get concerned. By the third night with no sign of Shiro, he was distinctly worried. 

He was conscious of the fact that he was spacey and less present than usual, but it was so easy to let himself drift whenever there was a moment of downtime, like sitting in the campus center getting lunch with his friends. No matter how much he protested, Hunk insisted on bringing something for him, and it  _ was  _ nice because Hunk’s cooking was  _ amazing  _ and it saved him money, but it was easy to sort of mechanically eat while thinking about other things.

Hunk, Lance, and Lotor were all present; Adam had a meeting with his advisor that was running long, but he was supposed to join them later.

“Keith?” He heard his name, dimly, and registered that it might have been the second or third time it was said. “Keith, buddy, what is  _ up  _ with you?” He blinked and looked over at Lance, who was fixing him with a scrutinizing look. “You’ve been weird for the past couple days, and usually you devour food like you’re starving, but lately…” He gestured to the Tupperware container Hunk had put today’s offering in, and Keith did have to acknowledge that in his deeply distracted state, he hadn’t eaten much of the spicy shrimp-and-rice dish.

“Sorry,” he said, and he looked over at Hunk. “The food’s great, I promise,” he said, just in case he was concerned. “It’s nothing, really, just. I’ve got a lot on my mind.” To say the least. If he was lucky, they’d leave it alone.

Keith wasn’t sure why he hoped for these things, because he was never lucky.

“Yeah?” Lance leaned in, like he was expecting some kind of juicy gossip and not at all like he was thinking of anything like letting it go. “That so?” 

“It’s not a big deal, Lance,” Keith waved it off, taking a bite of shrimp.

“You sure?” Hunk asked, and he sounded more concerned than anything else. That was...sweet. “Because it’s super not like you to be out of it like this, and I’m more worried about  _ that.  _ My ego can take the occasional food-related bruising.” Keith sighed. Alright, fine, maybe he owed his friends a little bit of an explanation so they wouldn’t worry about him.

“I’m fine, I promise,” he said. “I just...met someone.”

That was a mistake. Lotor  _ had _ been paying attention to his work, and Hunk  _ had _ been more concerned than gossipy, but suddenly both of them were very interested, and he had three pairs of eyes on him and  _ all _ of them were blatantly hungry to hear more.

“And…?” Lance urged. “Tell us about them!” He sounded utterly delighted at the prospect. 

Oh,  _ no.  _ In the time Keith had known Lance, if there was one thing he’d learned for certain, it was that he was pretty well incapable of letting something go if it interested him.

“There’s not much to tell,” Keith said, and that wasn’t exactly a  _ lie _ . “We ran into each other at East End Beach, I went down there to watch the sunset. The sunset was really nice, and so was he, and we talked. We’ve been running into each other there for a few weeks now, but he hasn’t been there the last couple days, and I’m a little worried. That’s it.”

“ _ Really? _ ” Lance leaned forward onto the table, grinning broadly. “I can’t believe you haven’t told us about him before! We’re your friends, Keith, that’s rude.”

“Told us about who?” Adam asked, as he walked up and slid into a seat next to Lotor. 

“Keith’s new mystery boyfriend,” Lance replied, and Keith groaned in distress.

“ _ He’s not my boyfriend,”  _ he said, “he  _ has _ a boyfriend and it’s  _ not me.” _

“And who is  _ he?” _ Adam asked, eyebrows raised.

“A guy,” Keith said, and he dropped his face into his hands, hoping that would cover his blush. “His name’s Shiro. We met because we were both watching the sunset at the same time, he’s really nice, we’ve talked a bunch, and he hasn’t been back the last few days. That’s it.”

“That’s it?” Adam asked, and he frowned. “I don’t see what all this fussing is about, then.”

“ _ Thank you, _ ” Keith said.

“That’s because you didn’t see Keith earlier,” Lotor said, “when he was staring off into space, unable to focus on anything but pining.”

“I was not  _ pining,”  _ Keith said.

“You were definitely pining,” Lance grinned smugly.

“It was a little bit piney,” Hunk said.

“You were staring off into the distance the way I used to stare after Adam, before we started dating.” Lotor raised his eyebrows, and Keith made an unhappy grumbling noise.

“You’re all terrible,” he said, and he heard Lance snicker, and Hunk reached over to pat his shoulder. 

“It’s okay, Keith,” Hunk said, “we’ll find you your mystery man. Hey, maybe he’s like, a merman, and he hasn’t been back for a few days because he’s forbidden to interact with the surface dwellers, so he has to wait until he can sneak out.”

“Well, considering we have the local expert on magical husbands here—” Adam started, and Lotor lightly whacked his shoulder with a pen, which just made Adam laugh.

“ _ Animal brides, anektra,”  _ Lotor huffed, “which is a very different folklore motif. If Keith has found himself a  _ selkie,  _ I can help, but merfolk are outside the parameters of my thesis.”

“He’s not a merman,” Keith said irritably, “or a selkie, because those things aren’t real, and he lives here in Portland, with his boyfriend, who is, I have to emphasize,  _ not me. _ ”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Lance said, “we just want to make sure that you get the beautiful magical boyfriend you deserve!”

“I’m starting to wonder if this  _ friends  _ thing is really all it’s cracked up to be,” Keith said, with mostly feigned bitterness.

“Oh, you love us,” Lance said, and he didn’t have to look up to see the broad grin on his face.

He raised a hand and gave the table, collectively, a one-fingered salute, which sent the others into a peal of laughter. 

For all his feigned annoyance, Keith had to admit he wasn’t sure what he would do if he was still alone.

* * *

All the teasing in the world from his friends couldn’t keep Keith from going back to that beach. If Shiro still wasn’t there, maybe Keith would give up, and assume that he’d done something to chase him away.

“Keith?”

His heart actually stuttered, hearing Shiro call his name, and he turned, and yes - there he was. He looked...good, in a long-sleeved white button-down and a pair of black gloves, and dark jeans that sat nicely enough on his hips that Keith had to actively avoid staring. 

“Hey, Shiro,” he said, and he tried to make himself sound a normal level of happy to see someone who was very much only a friend, and could only ever be a friend. 

“Hey,” Shiro said, and he was wearing a warm, welcoming smile that somehow managed to look just a little bashful. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Lucky thing,” Keith said, like he wasn’t on the same beach at the same time every night. “Here to watch the sunset again?”

“You could say that,” Shiro said, and this time when he chose a spot, it was closer to the water, though Keith couldn’t help but notice that he stared at the sea itself with an expression that could only be called  _ longing.  _ He even started to walk down towards where the edge of the waves came up, but as soon as his feet touched wet sand he retreated, dropping down to sit where it was still totally dry. Keith joined him, and part of him wanted to ask about the strange display, but whatever Shiro’s exact issue was, it was his own, and you didn’t just...ask someone you just met about something like that.

Probably. Keith wasn’t exactly good at people.

“It’s good to see you again,” Keith said. “Missed you, the last few days.”

“I missed you too,” Shiro said, giving him a soft smile that made Keith’s heart do little flip flops. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get out here. Just...Maurice,” he shrugged, and his smile became a little guilty.

“It’s fine,” Keith mumbled, more than a little awkwardly. They lapsed into silence, and Keith let himself look back out at the sunset.

This time, Shiro was much quieter; Keith chanced a glance over, and he’d pulled a knee up and laid an arm across it, and he wasn’t looking at the sunset. He was definitely just staring at the water, with an expression that could only be classed as “melancholy.”

The part of Keith that enjoyed his required literature classes and loved listening to Adam and Lotor talk murder ballads and folklore observed that Shiro, staring at the water like that, lit by the fading sun, seemed exactly the sort of person that inspired Romantic poets to verse. Keith wanted to pull out Keats or Byron or Shelley, to tell Shiro how beautiful he thought he was..

“You okay?” he asked, instead, which was not nearly as poetic but probably more appropriate.

“I…” Shiro blinked, and looked over at him. “I’m fine,” he said, “but...thanks.” He gave Keith an approximation of a smile, and Keith really wanted to take that answer at face value because he wanted Shiro to be okay.

“Are you sure?” He asked, because it was too easy, otherwise.

“I’m sure,” Shiro said, firmly. That was a pretty clear signal. Shiro didn’t want Keith to pry—or at least that was the impression Keith was getting. 

“Okay,” Keith said, and he let it drop.

Shiro lapsed back into silence, but it was tenser this time, more drawn. Keith could have kicked himself. If he’d just  _ left things alone,  _ this wouldn’t be happening. He stumbled over interactions with people, and he knew it, and here he was, fucking it up again.

“I’m...sorry for pushing,” Keith said, “you obviously don’t wanna—”

“Keith,” Shiro interrupted, and normally Keith hated that sort of thing, but Shiro did it so gently that it wasn’t nearly as infuriating, “you weren’t pushing. I appreciate your concern, really.” He reached over and gently took Keith’s hand in his, squeezing it briefly. Keith made a tiny surprised noise, and he stared down at their hands for a long moment before Shiro withdrew, looking abashed.

“Uh,” Keith said, “I’m glad I didn’t upset you, then.” What the hell else was he supposed to say? His brain was still stuck on  _ Shiro touching his hand. _

“I should go,” Shiro said, but something in his voice made it sound like he didn’t  _ want  _ to go.

“Um, before you do,” Keith said, “let me give you my number?” He couldn’t believe he was saying that. “So, you know, we don’t have to play tag to be able to meet up?”

“That…” Shiro began, and then a broad, genuine smile broke across his face. “That sounds great.” He pulled a phone out of his pocket—simple, cheap, probably pay-as-you-go, but even those were smartphones these days. Keith took it and entered his number into the contacts, and Shiro took it back, but when he did, he let their fingers touch, lingering for a little longer than was strictly necessary. “I’ll text you later,” he said.

“That sounds great,” Keith agreed, and when he walked back to his bike, he felt like he was floating.

* * *

Shiro stared down at his phone, hovering outside the door to Sendak’s apartment. It had been close to a year since Sendak had stolen his sealskin on that isolated spit of a beach, and this was the first time in that time that he’d had a sliver of  _ hope. _

Keith seemed fascinated with him - and that was well and good, because although fascination could certainly go to some terrible places, Shiro was reasonably confident Keith wasn’t that type of person. He’d need more time to suss him out, and he would have to be subtle - if Sendak suspected he had outside help, Shiro was sure things would go downhill quickly - but Keith might just be the person he had been looking for.

He’d torn the apartment apart trying to find his own sealskin, but it was nowhere he could access, and there were parts ringed off with iron to keep him away. A human would pass those barriers with no trouble and be able to recover the skin and set him free.

Shiro had been searching for the right candidate. Keith might just be it. He seemed like a nice kid; Shiro felt a little guilty about dragging him into this, but only so much. Someone had to help him. He didn’t intend to stay Sendak’s prisoner forever.

He pulled up Keith’s contact on his phone, and shot off a quick text. He’d gotten the phone as a hopeful gesture, and also because dumb apps were a great way to while away the absolutely absurd amount of time he spent on Sendak’s couch - now, it meant he could contact the first person he’d talked to since being trapped that had given the impression of liking him as something  _ other  _ than a beautiful trophy to be won.

_ Hey, Keith, it’s Shiro. Are you free to do lunch tomorrow? Say about 1-ish? _

The reply came back almost immediately, like Keith had been waiting to hear from him.

_ Absolutely! Where? _

Shiro smiled to himself. Perfect.

_ How about that Duckfat place on Middle Street? I’ve heard the sandwiches are great. _

Also, unlike a lot of Portland restaurants, it wasn’t seafood. Shiro wasn’t sure how he’d handle being reminded that directly of where he belonged.

_ Sounds great. See you then.  _ Keith’s text came back quickly, and Shiro nodded to himself before shoving his phone in his pocket and stepping through the door.

* * *

In his bed in his apartment, Keith stared down at his phone screen, feeling a giddy bubble grow inside of him. Shiro wanted to get lunch with him. Shiro wanted to  _ spend time with him. _

Shiro probably wasn’t  _ romantically  _ interested in him, but that was fine. Keith’s crush was silly and outsized anyway; he was sure it would burn out with time. He’d had crushes before, and they never lasted; usually it was because people tended to disappoint him, but he hoped this time it would just be that he found he liked Shiro better as a friend.

He shot off a quick message to his group chat with his friends, letting them know not to expect him for lunch, and then laid there grinning for a long minute, right up until his phone started absolutely exploding with notifications.

HUNK:  _ Dude you’re okay right _ _   
_ _ If you’re getting sick I can swing by with something _

LANCE:  _ I bet you have a daaaaaaate _   
_ Come on Keith dish what’s going on _

HUNK:  _ Lance leave him alone _

ROMELLE:  _ can’t believe keith has his first boyfriend _

ADAM:  _ if you’re sick you should email your professor so you can figure out what you’ll be missing _

Keith sighed heavily, rolling over. 

_ I’m not sick,  _ he typed.  _ I’ll be in class tomorrow. _

LANCE:  _ so it IS a date!!!!!!! _

_ It’s not a date, we’re just friends, _ Keith fired off, though he could almost hear Lance’s smug  _ uh-huh. _

LANCE:  _ yeah whatever just tell us all about it tomorrow _ _   
_ _ is it w/ that Shiro dude _ _   
_ _ did he show back up at the beach _ _   
_ _ i lied you’re telling us abt it right now _

HUNK:  _ lance cmon _ _   
_ _ but uh you should totally tell us _

ADAM:  _ glad you’re okay, Keith, you didn’t seem sick earlier but you never know _

Keith rolled his eyes and slung off a series of rapid-fire messages.

KEITH:  _ thanks Adam _ _   
_ _ yes it’s with Shiro yes I ran into him again _ _   
_ _ it’s not a date though _ _   
_ _ we’re just getting lunch _

HUNK:  _ ooh, where, maybe i know it _ _   
_ _ i can give you advice on what to order _

Keith hesitated. How likely were they to just…show up, if he told them? Was it maybe a good idea to have them there?

He exhaled, blowing a loose bang away from his face with irritation.

KEITH:  _ a place called duckfat on middle street _ _   
_ _ looks like sandwiches? _ _   
_ _ googled it when he suggested it _

HUNK:  _ oh that place is great _ _   
_ _ you gotta eat the fries _ _   
_ _ and the milkshakes _ _   
_ _ and they make their own soda in-house so you gotta try that too _

KEITH:  _ uh, thanks? _ _   
_ _ so, like, try everything on the menu _

HUNK:  _ yes exactly _

LANCE:  _ good luck w/ your not-a-date!!! _

LOTOR:  _ We’ll look forward to hearing all about it. _

Keith was glad they couldn’t see him, because if his friends could see him blushing like an idiot he was sure he’d be lining up for more affectionate mockery. 

KEITH:  _ thanks guys  _

He shot off that one last text and then set his phone aside. He had homework; hopefully that would serve to distract him from feeling jittery about tomorrow. Because, yeah, it kind of was a date. It kind of was  _ like that.  _

Maybe this crush  _ wasn’t  _ just going to burn out on its own - and maybe that might be okay.


	3. Chapter 3

Keith paced back and forth, nervously fiddling with his phone and checking the time over and over. He felt like an idiot for doing it, because checking the time wasn’t going to make it tick by faster, but he’d gotten to the restaurant ten minutes early and there wasn’t much  _ else  _ to do except mindlessly scroll Twitter and hope something interesting popped up.

It didn’t, and he was far too interested in looking for Shiro to even attempt to focus on that anyway.

When Shiro finally  _ did  _ come running up, ponytail bouncing and a broad grin on his face, Keith felt something warm and fuzzy settle in his chest.

“Hey, Shiro,” he said, putting his phone away.

“Hey Keith,” Shiro said, and he smiled, reaching up and tucking a bit of escapee hair back behind his ear. “I’m glad you’re already here. Ready to go in?”

“Absolutely,” Keith said, and he gently tugged Shiro in. “My friend Hunk has been here before, and he recommended…pretty much everything on the menu, so I guess we can’t go wrong.” 

“Good,” Shiro said, and he led Keith inside. Despite what was obviously a lunch rush, they were able to get seated fairly quickly and put in their orders. The large order of fries Shiro ordered for them to share came fairly quickly, and so did their sodas, and Keith started digging in, but he found himself briefly entranced watching Shiro eat. It felt strange—until that moment, Shiro had existed in a sort of ethereal, unreal space, as far as Keith was concerned. He was someone Keith only met at twilight, too beautiful to be real, and yet here he was, dipping fries into garlic mayo and eagerly devouring them.

Keith must have been staring, because Shiro blinked, and paused.

“Something on my face?” he asked playfully.

“No, sorry, just.”  _ ‘You’re breathtakingly beautiful and I can’t believe you’re real.’  _ “A little distracted.”

“Okay,” Shiro said, and he shrugged. “Your friend was right, by the way, these are fantastic.”

“No kidding,” Keith agreed, and he took a quick glance around the restaurant.

At which point his heart sort of. Stopped. Briefly.

A few tables over were three very familiar people, and a couple tables away from them was an equally familiar couple. Hunk, Lance, and Romelle seemed completely wrapped up in each other, and so did Adam and Lotor, and if Keith knew his friends any less well, he might have thought it was a coincidence that they were all here. More specifically, if he knew  _ Lance and Romelle  _ any less well. This had their nosy gossip fingerprints all over it.

“Am I boring you?” Shiro asked, and Keith jolted.

“No,” he said, very quickly, “you could never, just—“

“You seem so distracted, I kinda wondered,” Shiro said, and it was only then that Keith noticed a playful spark in his eyes. He was teasing.

“Yeah, no, this time it’s that I think my friends decided to follow me here,” Keith said, and he knew he had to look pouty.

“Really?” Shiro laughed. “Aw, that’s sweet, they’re looking out for you.”

“They’re being gossips, is what they’re doing,” Keith grumbled. 

“You’ll have to introduce me after lunch,” Shiro said lightly, and he nudged the basket of fries towards Keith, which definitely did encourage Keith to take a few. “It would be rude to leave them in suspense.”

“It’d be what they deserve,” Keith huffed, “but sure.”

Their sandwiches were delivered, and Keith took a moment to take a bite of his, and he sighed. This place was definitely an expensive indulgence, but also totally worth it. 

“Delicious,” Shiro said contentedly. “So, how have your classes been going?”

“Fine,” Keith replied, and he shrugged a little. “Things are really starting to get going, and I’m trying to settle on a thesis topic. I want to do  _ something _ with queer history, but that’s such a broad topic, and yeah, Adam and Lotor are a year ahead of me, but they’re both already so deep in their theses that I feel behind.”

“Well, like you said, they’re a year ahead of you,” Shiro pointed out. “So they’ve had an extra year to get all of that figured out.”

“I guess,” Keith said, and he sighed, shaking his head. “Did you ever think about grad school, or?”

“No, not really,” Shiro shrugged, and then he glanced out the window briefly.

“I feel like I really don’t know that much about you,” Keith said. Shiro turned back and gave him a playful grin.

“That’s on purpose,” he said, lightly. “Besides, my life isn’t very interesting. I like hearing about yours.”

“I’m just some grad student, though, nothing special,” Keith said, sinking into his chair a little. Shiro’s expression softened, and he frowned, but in a way that made it clear it was for Keith.

“I’ve met a lot of people, Keith,” Shiro said, and under the table, his foot brushed against Keith’s ankle, “and I’ve never met a single one who wasn’t special. You’re smart, and dedicated, and you’re taking on this  _ huge  _ thing, and when you started it, you were doing it all alone. I think you’re plenty special.” 

Keith flushed, and was extremely glad that he could put off responding by diving into his food. The conversation didn’t drift back in serious directions, but it kept going, through finishing their sandwiches and milkshakes and a dessert of cinnamon-sugar donut holes. 

“Do you have class to get to, any time soon?” Shiro asked.

“Not until after 4,” Keith replied, and he stretched as he stood up. “So we’ve got a couple hours, as long as we loop back here. I parked in the garage a couple blocks down.”

“Would you like to take a walk, then?” Shiro asked, and Keith nodded. 

“That sounds great,” he said, and he scooped up his jacket, glancing back at his friends. Hunk actually met his gaze, this time, and he shrugged helplessly and gestured at Lance and Romelle, which basically confirmed Keith’s suspicions.

“Do you think your friends will follow us?” Shiro teased.

“I’d be incredibly surprised if they  _ don’t, _ ” Keith said.

“Good,” Shiro said, and his eyes took on a teasing twinkle, “they can make sure I behave myself.” Keith blushed, and looked away, and tried not to think too hard about what that might mean.

It wasn’t quite as romantic as sitting on the beach at sunset, but wandering downtown with Shiro was still…nice. He was so enthusiastic about pausing and taking in shops, and glancing into restaurants, like he’d never seen these things before. It was like walking with someone from another world, who wasn’t quite accustomed to modern life, but was  _ extremely enthusiastic  _ about learning.

Naturally, of course, every time he looked back, he caught a glimpse of at least one of his friends tailing them. He’d have called it frustrating, except that Romelle and Lance were clearly having the time of their lives dragging Hunk around, and Adam and Lotor trying to rein them in was funny even at a distance.

Finally, Shiro tugged him over to a bench to sit down, and Keith flashed him a smile. 

“Having fun?” He asked, but his face dropped when he saw Shiro’s expression. He looked incredibly serious, and a little nervous, maybe even scared.

“I am, but…Keith, there’s something I need to tell you,” he said, and he took a deep breath, reaching over and taking one of Keith’s hands in both of his. “I—”

For a moment, Keith could feel the words  _ ‘I love you _ ’ on the tip of his tonge, burning to be let out, as stupid and pointless as they’d be. Shiro was dating someone else. Even if he weren’t, he needed Keith more as a friend than anything else.

“Takashi,” a dark, rich voice said, and even before Keith turned, he was smacked in the face by the scent of  _ Alpha.  _ It immediately had his hackles raising, and he was on his feet and snarling before he really knew what was happening. Shiro stood up next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, and Keith took a sharp breath, pulling himself back.

“Maurice,” Shiro said tightly, and Keith immediately regretted backing down. Of course this was the mysterious Maurice. He was, in a word, huge—tall and burly, with thick dark hair and one sharp hazel eye focused on Keith, with the other covered by a patch—and while most people made some effort towards reducing the impact of their personal scent in public, whatever cologne Maurice was wearing just made the musk of  _ Alpha _ even stronger. He dressed like he needed everyone to know exactly how wealthy he was, and clearly, he liked people to be intimidated by him.

“And who is this?” Maurice asked, in a way that almost sounded amused.

“His name is Keith. We’re  _ friends.”  _ Shiro’s voice was tight and tense.

“Charming,” Sendak said dryly, and he reached for Shiro. Keith growled protectively, and Maurice’s eye narrowed, hand shifting like he was very much thinking about doing violence to Keith.

“Maurice!”

Keith was, suddenly, extremely glad that his friends had followed them, because there they were. Adam moved in on his other side, putting a hand on his shoulder, and a glance back said that Hunk, Romelle, and Lance were behind them. Lotor, though, was bodily moving between Shiro and Maurice, fixing Maurice with the fakest smile Keith had ever seen on his face.

“Lotor,” Maurice smiled back, equally fake. “What a pleasure. And these must be your…new friends.” 

“They are,” Lotor said, smoothly, “which includes Keith, which means I don’t appreciate you threatening him  _ or _ his friend.”

“ _ Threatening?” _ Maurice laughed. “No one was being  _ threatened  _ here—except perhaps for me, if I were to consider this pathetic slip of an Alpha anything close to a viable threat. Even if I  _ don’t _ appreciate the way he’s putting his hands on  _ my  _ Omega.”

“ _ Shiro _ is his own person,” Lotor said. Maurice raised his eyebrows, clearly deeply amused.

“Jealous, Lotor?” Maurice purred. “Or do you find yourself missing the touch of a  _ real  _ Alpha, when compared to the…tragically deficient substitute you’ve found yourself seeing?”

“Not a whit of jealousy,” Lotor snarled, all pretense of friendliness gone, “and Adam is twice the Alpha you’ll ever be. Now  _ leave,  _ unless you’d like me to involve my mother in this little spat.” The amusement drained off Maurice’s face, and he paled.

“We aren’t finished,” he said, and he glared at Keith. “And  _ you,  _ whelp—you have no idea what you’re getting into.”

“Fuck off,” Keith shot back, eloquently. Maurice shook his head and stormed off.

It was only once he was gone that Keith noticed that Lotor was trembling. Adam moved away from Keith to pull Lotor into a hug, nuzzling at his hair. Shiro collapsed back onto the bench, and Keith went with him, eyes wide.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine,” Shiro said, but he hugged himself tight. “Maurice isn’t going to be happy, but I’m fine  _ now.” _

“You don’t have to go back to him,” Lotor said.

“Yes, I do,” Shiro said, dismally.

“No, you don’t,” Lotor’s voice was fine, and he began to disentangle himself from Adam.

“You okay,  _ neshama sheli?”  _ Adam asked, gently. 

“I’m alright,  _ migadye, _ ” Lotor said, and he moved to sit on Shiro’s other side, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I know how he makes you feel,” he took a deep breath, and fixed Shiro with a deeply sad look, “because until a little over a year ago, I was where you are. Maurice…has known my parents for years, and was a fixture of my life growing up. We started dating not long after I turned eighteen, and he had me convinced that he was the only person who would ever want me. Because I was so  _ wrong  _ for an Omega—too dark, too tall, too clever and opinionated. Too much for anyone else to bear. He was wrong about me. He is wrong about you, and there  _ is  _ something better out there.”

“We have an extra room in our apartment,” Hunk said. “You can come stay with us.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” Shiro said flatly, “but that isn’t the kind of help I need. I know you mean well, but…” Shiro inhaled, tensely, and then his shoulders dropped. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he said, very quietly. 

“Try us,” Adam said. Shiro frowned.

“I’m a selkie,” he said. “Sendak has my sealskin.”

There was a long moment of silence. Keith searched Shiro’s face for any hint that he was joking, or lying, or anything, but he looked wholly serious. Especially when his shoulders dropped, and he let out a breath, and it was like all the energy left his body.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” Shiro said, and he started to stand up. 

“No, wait,” Keith stood up with him, putting a hand on his arm. “It’s just…a lot, because.”

“Selkies are supposed to be mythical.” Shiro’s voice was flat. “I know. I promise: we’re real, but I can’t prove anything without my sealskin, so that’s a fun catch-22.”

“....How often do you come on land?” Lotor asked, softly.

“Most of us, not very. Me, personally?” Shiro shrugged. “I liked to slip up once every few months and explore the city.” Lotor sighed, unhappily.

“That…makes sense. Maurice must have seen you come up.” He dropped his face into his hands. “Keith must have told you—my Master’s thesis is on what we call ‘animal bride’ myths. Selkies included. A few months before he…” Lotor paused and exhaled, “threw me out like trash, because he was tired of me and tired of the fact that I was making new friends,” he flashed Adam a soft, fond smile, and Adam squeezed his shoulder, “especially friends that were helping me see that the way Sendak had treated me for years wasn’t anything even adjacent to  _ love, _ he suddenly took an interest in my thesis. At the time, I was…delighted. I loved him. I thought he cared about my work. But he must have seen you and realized…”

Shiro’s expression had slowly grown more horrified, the longer Lotor talked.

“He realized the stories were real. That’s how he knew what to look for,” Shiro said, voice soft.

“So, like,” Lance cut in, leaning over, “if we get your sealskin back, you’re free, right, that’s how this works?”

“Yes,” Shiro said, “but it’s locked up in a safe in Sendak’s apartment.”

“Ugh. He spent so much time looking for an  _ iron  _ safe specifically. I thought it was silly, but of course…you can’t touch it, can you?” Lotor growled.

“Nope,” Shiro said. “Touching iron  _ hurts.  _ Like shoving my hand in a bonfire. But even worse, it drains me. So if I tried to push through and open it anyway, I would just…pass out.”

“So you need one of us to open the safe for you,” Lance said, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

“What,” Shiro said, and he shook his head. “No, you can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Lotor shrugged. “I assume you have a key to his apartment, since you come and go. If not, I still have one. He won’t be back from work until five-thirty at the very earliest, which gives us  _ hours  _ to get in, work out the combination, and get out.”

“I have a key, and I know the combination,” Shiro said, wrapping his arms around himself. “I watched him enter it while he was locking my sealskin away.”

“See? We can totally do this,” Lance said, waving a hand.

“You can’t all mean to help me,” Shiro said, looking around at the whole group. “I’m a stranger. You barely know me, I’m just…Keith’s friend, I…I’m practically no one to you.” 

“I won’t leave someone else to Sendak’s mercies,” Lotor said, firmly. Adam and Romelle both nodded.

“This is probably the coolest thing that’s ever gonna happen to me,” Lance said, bluntly, which made Shiro snort. Hunk shook his head, briefly.

“I think it’s really dangerous? But I’m not gonna  _ not  _ help someone,” he said. Shiro looked over at Keith.

“You’re my friend,” Keith said softly, ‘ _ and I’m head over heels in love with you, by the way,’ _ “and I’m not gonna let you suffer.”

“And there’s no talking any of you out of this?” Shiro asked. He was met by six firm, serious faces. “....Alright then.” He softened, a lot. “Thank you. So much.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lance waved his hand. “Let’s plan this heist.”


	4. Chapter 4

Keith inhaled tensely as he strode into the apartment building's foyer. The whole place was a conspicuous display of wealth, a recently built luxury complex with lovely granite floors, a fancy receptionist's desk, and enough decorative gilt to make it clear that this was somewhere that housed people of wealth and privilege and consequence. Or, at the least, housed people who believed themselves to be of wealth and privilege and consequence. Sendak certainly was that, from everything Keith had seen and heard, and he felt unaccountably shabby here. Like he would, at any moment, be asked to prove that he belonged and should be allowed to stay. He stuck close to Shiro, hoping that clearly being With Him would be enough.

“Mr. Shirogane!” The receptionist called, and Shiro turned, and gave her a polite smile.

“Angela,” he said. Angela, a plump redhead with thick glasses, leaned forward and examined the group surrounding Shiro.

“That's a lot of friends, sir.” Then, she grinned, conspiratorially, and raised her eyebrows. “Finally taking my advice?” She asked.

“Finally found enough friends to  _ help me _ take your advice,” Shiro replied. Angela grinned, and gave a brief nod.

“Good. You're too good for him, anyway.” She waved them on, and Shiro led the group to the elevator, tapping in the number for Sendak's floor.

There was no ignoring that Lotor looked more and more nervous, the higher they went up, but Keith supposed he couldn't be surprised, not with what he now knew about Lotor's past. Fortunately, Adam was right there next to him, leaning against his side and winding their fingers together, and Lotor had his face buried in Adam's hair, clearly taking comfort from his closeness and scent. It was cute, the way they leaned on each other, and Keith found himself hoping he'd find something like that someday.

He'd thought he might with Shiro, but that wasn't going to happen, because Shiro deserved to go home, and there was no way, after being trapped, Shiro would ever want to stay on land. Keith certainly wouldn't, in his position, so this would be goodbye.

A good thing Keith hadn't blurted out anything stupid over their lunch date, then.

The elevator dinged for Sendak's floor, and Shiro was out first.

“We'll play lookout,” Romelle said, slinging her arms around Hunk and Lance's shoulders. “Hunk and Lance can watch the stairwells, I'll stay by the elevator. If Sendak pops up, we'll send Keith a text.” Hunk and Lance each gave very serious nods, even though Hunk looked a little bit queasy.

“Thank you,” Shiro said, genuinely.

"Yeah, yeah, what else are we gonna do, other than hover around you and look super suspicious?" Romelle waved her boys off, and they took off towards the ends of the hallway while she plopped down into a chair by the elevator, pulled out her phone, and proceeded, as far as anyone would be able to tell by looking, to become engrossed in whatever was on her screen, but Keith took a moment to watch her eyes, flicking up to watch what was going on. “Go, go,” she waved a hand, and Shiro nodded, moving down the hall and bringing the rest of the group with him. From his pocket, he produced a key, and inhaled tensely as he stuck it into the apartment's locks.

“Honestly,” he said, dryly, “the worst part is how much freedom he gives me.”

“Because he knows you'll always come back,” Lotor said softly. Shiro nodded. “More of a literal compulsion in your case than mine, but…”

“No less powerful,” Shiro said gently. Lotor nodded.

“We'll stay out here and keep watch,” Adam said, “just in case anyone slips past Romelle or her boys.”

“Good,” Shiro said. Keith followed him into the apartment, and grimaced. Just like the building, it screamed “I'm rich, pay attention to me.” The furniture was all clearly new, and extremely expensive; Keith would wager that the couch alone cost more than his books for the semester.

The whole place looked far too clean, too, even with the dark toned antique furniture; despite the fact that he knew at least two people lived here, Keith never would have believed it. There weren't any touches of home or comfort. No casually discarded clothes, abandoned items, nothing. There were decorative pieces, sure, but nothing like the books and papers and jackets and general signs of  _ life _ that were scattered all over Keith's apartment. The things that made it feel like a person's home, not some empty space where someone stayed for a little while.

“It's so...cold,” Keith murmured, and Shiro frowned.

“Do you need a jacket?” He asked. “I don't always notice temperature variations, unless they're extreme, so—” 

“No, I don’t…mean the temperature, I just mean.” Keith gestured at the full and yet somehow empty space. “It's cold. It doesn't feel like someone lives here.” Shiro wrinkled his nose.

“Sendak prefers his home impeccably clean,” he said, flatly. “So this is the sort of space he prefers to maintain.”

“Ugh,” Keith said softly, shivering. “So, where's the safe?” Shiro gestured at a large landscape painting hanging on the wall. Far, far too big for Keith to move on his own, and Shiro seemed to realize it as soon as he looked between Keith and the frame.

“Behind this,” he said. “Which...humans can't lift as much as selkies, can they.” He sighed, unhappily. “I'd help you, but I think there's iron in the frame, or in the paint on it, or something, because the last time I tried to move it…” He looked sheepish, and wrapped his arms around himself, stepping carefully away from it.

“Yeah, I got you,” Keith said, and then he turned back towards the door, ducking outside. “Adam? Lotor? Could one of you help me out? Sendak's got a giant painting in front of the safe, and Shiro thinks there might be iron in it, because he can't touch it.”

“I've got you,” Adam said, ducking inside with Keith. Between the two of them, they wrestled the large frame down, and set it aside, so that Keith could access the safe itself. It was small, set into the wall, and Keith could only imagine the fit his landlord would have thrown if he'd gone off on his own and put something like this in. The things people got away with when they were rich enough to live in fancy luxury apartments. Keith sincerely doubted Sendak's landlord was breathing down his neck, or that Sendak had any concerns about getting his deposit back. He could probably afford to lose it, frankly.

“What's the combination?” He asked. Shiro exhaled.

“11-4-95,” Shiro replied. Adam paled, and shook his head unhappily.

“What?” Shiro asked, as Keith entered the code.

“That's...Lotor's birthday,” Adam replied. “Ugh, it's like he aims to be the vilest person in any given room.”

“He probably does,” Keith grumbled, and then he finished entering the combination, and the safe came open in front of him. There, sitting in the middle of it, neatly folded, was what looked to be something soft, patterned like a harbor seal's coat.

With delicate reverence, Keith lifted it from its place in the safe, and held it out to Shiro, who softened incredibly. 

“Is this it?” He asked, though Shiro's expression told him all he needed to know, really.

“Yes,” he said, and he lifted it from Keith's hands, holding it close to his chest. His eyes shone with a soft light, and Keith swore he saw tears welling up at the corners. “Thank you. So much. I'll have to thank everyone, I…we shouldn't linger,” he swallowed.

“Let's get you back to the sea, yeah?” Adam said gently. Shiro nodded, and Keith shut the safe door, and then he and Adam lifted the painting back up and replaced it carefully. They ducked out of the apartment, and Shiro locked the door behind them, and Keith sent a text to the groupchat to let everyone know they were successful and to start getting the hell out.

Shiro was free.

* * *

Watching Shiro stare out to sea, Keith felt something soft and warm bubble up in his chest. Every time they'd sat by the water together before, Shiro had looked melancholy and longing--longing, Keith understood now, for the home he had been stolen from. Now, though, his expression was full of joy, and with his sealskin draped over his shoulders like a cape, he stepped into the water and inhaled. Brightly, childishly, he spun around, splashing in the shallows, and then he paused to face Keith and the others with a broad, soft smile.

“Thank you, so much,” he said, and he looked between them, eyes wide and soft. “I can't even begin to put my gratitude into words. You all...you've saved me. From a fate worse than death. I promise, I won't forget this service you've done for me.” Then, his expression softened even further, and he bent into the water, scooping something out of it. He moved to Keith, coming so close that Keith could have closed the distance in a heartbeat and kissed him.

And Keith longed to kiss him. It was an ache that had settled in his chest and made a home there, and it didn't seem to want to leave any time soon. It was not, however, an ache that Keith planned to relieve or indulge. Trying to kiss Shiro now...it would be tantamount to begging him to stay—which Keith  _ also _ wanted to do, if he were being honest—and terribly, agonizingly selfish. He couldn't ask Shiro to stay with him when another human had just wounded Shiro so terribly. Kept him prisoner for Keith couldn't even guess how long.

When Shiro reached out and took his hand, gently winding their fingers together, Keith's heart stopped. It was all at once answer to his prayers and nowhere near enough to satisfy his aching heart. Shiro's grip didn't linger; he pressed something into Keith's palm and then withdrew his hand.

“Hold onto this. A gift. And if you ever need me, just hold it and call, and I'll come,” he said, voice soft and gentle. Keith nodded, too stunned to say anything.

Shiro stepped back into the water, and gave one last spin, before rushing forward and diving in. What surfaced, a ways out to sea, was a harbor seal, but right over his eye, where Shiro's hair had its white streak, there was a splash of white that didn't match the rest of his spot pattern. He made some happy chirping noises, then dove back underwater and disappeared.

Keith swore he felt his heart go with him.

He glanced down at the item in his hands, though, and smiled softly. It was sea glass, black, made into a smooth, round ball by the waves and the tides. He rubbed his thumb over it, and he wasn't sure if it was just that it had recently been in Shiro;'s hand, and then his, but he swore it was warmer than it had any right to be. He could wrap it in wire and string it on a necklace and keep it close to his heart—a reminder that everything that had happened was real, not some sort of extended dream.

A soft sigh escaped his lips, and he turned, looking back over his friends.

“Come on,” he said, softly. “There's not…exactly much else for us here.”

“Do you want to come by our place?” Hunk suggested. “All of you. We can have dinner. Spend some time together.”

“That sounds nice,” Keith said. He cast a glance over his shoulder at the sea, but there was nothing there to look for.

There never would be.

* * *

Keith's life, after Shiro left, returned rapidly to normal. He still had classes to attend and work to do, and there wasn't exactly much time to daydream about someone that was never coming back. As much as Keith wanted to linger on thinking about Shiro, and wondering what he was up to and if he was alright, there wasn't really a reason to, not when he'd never get any kind of definitive answer.

Still, he found himself drawn to the beach where they'd met over and over, as the days dragged on. It was pointless wallowing, and part of Keith knew that, but he couldn't help himself. He liked to hope that one day, if he kept coming, he might catch a glimpse of a seal with a white splash over his eye, and at least know that Shiro had taken a moment to think of him.

It was after one such sunset trip that he slogged back to his apartment, burdened by a heavy bag of books and his laptop, and found the door partially open. Keith narrowed his eyes, and shifted his bag so it would be easier to use it as a weapon if he needed to. Sure, it would suck to have to find a way to afford a new laptop because he broke it on a burglar's face, but better that than losing his life or something. He also pulled out his phone, prepared to speed-dial 911.

He hefted it up and padded in, moving as quietly as he could, but there was no hiding from the man sitting in his front room.

Keith dropped his bag and his phone in shock, eyes going wide as he stared at Maurice Sendak, casually sitting on his couch.

“Keith Kogane,” Maurice said, and he stood up, “I think we have rather a lot to discuss.”

“No, we don't,” Keith said, and he turned to run, but his way was blocked by a tall, thin man who looked like a razorblade given human form. His fist snapped out, connecting with Keith's stomach, and sending him stumbling back.

“No need to be so rough, Haxus,” Sendak said, and Haxus shrugged his shoulders.

“I wanted to make sure the message sunk in,” he said, and Keith glared at him.

“Now, let's talk,” Sendak said. Keith shook his head.

“I know what you want, and I'm not going to help you,” he said, firmly. “You're not getting Shiro back.”

“You may not  _ want to _ ,” Sendak said, “but I can be quite persuasive.” and he stood up, moving into Keith's space. Keith inhaled sharply and ducked around him, running deeper into the apartment. He felt his foot contact his phone and send it skittering, but he didn't care to look and see where it got knocked, especially when he could hear more feet running after him. He ducked into his room and started to run for the door, but before he could, he felt a heavy body impact with his back--not bulky enough to be Sendak, but a little too hefty to be Haxus, which meant Sendak had  _ another _ stooge.

Keith inhaled tightly and reached down his shirt, as his attacker began to wrestle him to his feet. He ripped off the sea glass Shiro had given him, wrapped in wire and made into a necklace, and shoved it under his dresser as he was dragged up.

“Got him, boss,” an unfamiliar voice said.

“Excellent work, Hepta,” Sendak replied. He moved into Keith's room, glancing around. “You know, when I realized that Takashi's sealskin was gone, I was  _ blindingly _ furious. I put  _ so _ much effort into acquiring him, and his loss was absolutely  _ devastating _ . At first, I wanted to kill the person responsible. Slowly, in a way that would ensure they suffered as much physical agony as I suffered emotional at the loss of my precious selkie. But I realized, on contemplation, that the one who had stolen Takashi from me might also be the key to getting him back.”

“How did you even  _ find _ me?” Keith growled.

“Oh, it took a bit of doing, but I knew you were friends with Lotor, which gave me a good guess at which university you attended. After that, all it required was speaking to a friend in the admissions department, presenting myself as wanting to help you with your tuition, and I had everything about you I needed to know.” Sendak smiled, razor-sharp, and Keith felt like ice water had been dumped on him. “So, Mr. Kogane. You are going to come with me, and we are going to...persuade Takashi to come back to me. I saw the way he looked at you. I know he cares for you.” Keith spat at Sendak's feet, angrily.

“I told you, I'll never help you,” he snarled.

“Oh,” Sendak said, stepping forward and grabbing Keith's chin, “I think you'll find you will.”


	5. Chapter 5

Shiro remembered the address to Keith’s apartment, though he hadn’t exactly meant for it to be carved into his memory when Keith offered it. A stammered kindness, a request to visit, and of course Shiro had said yes, because what else could he say, but in that moment he’d never planned to set foot on the surface again. Not if it might put him back in the hands of an Alpha like Sendak, who wanted a selkie so he could have a victim who could never find a way to leave him the way Lotor had.

So, Shiro had not thought that he’d be making his way to Keith’s apartment. He especially hadn’t thought he’d be doing it after just barely over a week of being gone. The heart, though, overrode sense and plans, and Shiro’s heart had spent the entire time he was gone aching for Keith.

It had felt lonely, being without him. He’d been home, he’d been among his people again, and they’d welcomed him back, but without Keith there, he’d felt so _alone._

Shiro hadn’t ever really understood the big deal humans made about love, until he’d realized he was in it. Until he’d realized why it was that he longed for Keith’s smile, Keith’s laugh, why all the wonders of the selkies’ kingdom didn’t seem so wondrous anymore because Keith wasn’t there. 

He couldn’t exactly ask Keith to stay with him under the waves, and if he was on shore too long while in possession of his own sealskin he would die, but if Keith would have it…

He ran a thumb over the skin in his arms. If Keith would have it, he would give it to him. And himself, and anything else Keith Kogane would have from him. 

He knocked on the door once, then twice. There was no answer, and he frowned. Well, perhaps his timing was just poor—Keith might be out with friends. So he leaned against the door to wait, and felt it shift, and then swing open, and— 

That wasn’t right. There was no way Keith would leave his door unlocked when he wasn’t home. _No one_ would.

He stepped inside, and felt a slow surge of horror.

The apartment was perfectly, almost eerily, clean. Everything was in order; it didn’t even look _lived in._ Shiro hadn’t seen it before, but he’d gotten to know Keith pretty well, and he’d never struck Shiro as the “impeccably clean living space” type. He frowned.

“Keith?” He called, hoping against hope that he was somehow here. “Keith, are you here?”

No answer. 

Shiro set his sealskin on the arm of the couch and began to search for any sort of clue to where Keith might have gone. He did his best to be as thorough as possible, but what he found only made him more worried. There were clothes in the closet, a bag neatly hung on a hook—if it weren’t for the almost alarming neatness, he might have thought Keith had only stepped out for a moment. He fished Keith’s cell phone out from under the couch, and under a dresser in what he assumed had been Keith’s bedroom he found the piece of sea glass he’d given Keith before he left, wrapped in a brass wire and attached to a necklace. 

He might have worried that Keith had left and abandoned it, but there was no way he would abandon his _phone,_ surely. It seemed unlikely, too, that he would have willingly discarded it after the care he’d taken to make it into a piece of jewelry.

Shiro slid it around his neck and tucked it under his shirt. He’d give it back to Keith when he found him.

Keith’s phone started to ring, and Shiro stared at it guiltily for a long moment, before deciding that ultimately the best course of action probably _was_ to answer it. He didn't have any other way to get in contact with any of Keith’s friends—and it was definitely Lance, the contact name made that clear. 

“Keith?” Lance said on the other end as soon as Shiro accepted the call. “Buddy, we’ve been so worried about you, what the hell—”

“This isn’t Keith,” Shiro said.

“Then who the— _Shiro?”_ Lance sounded surprised, and then for a brief moment Shiro could hear him speaking to someone in the background— _“it’s Shiro, yeah, he’s back”_. “You didn’t like, sweep Keith off his feet and take him to your underwater kingdom, did you? And that’s why you’re answering his phone?”

“No,” Shiro said, “I came to see him, and his apartment is empty. I found his phone under the couch.”

“Well that’s not good,” Lance said. “Hold on, I’m gonna put you on speaker.” There was a general shuffling noise, and then—“okay, Romelle and Hunk are here.”

“Good,” Shiro said. “Do any of you know anything about where he might have gone?”

“Nah, man,” that was Hunk, “we haven’t heard from him in days, and he hasn’t been in class. We’ve been calling him a _ton,_ but…nothing, until, y’know, you picked up.”

“Ah,” Shiro said. That was...worrying. _Days?_ “And there’s been no form of contact from him at all?”

“Nothing,” Romelle confirmed. “And we’ve tried _everything._ Including some things we probably shouldn't have tried, legally speaking, but y’know, we already committed a B&E together, so we were past the line anyway.” She sounded completely unrepentant.

“It was some pretty impressive stuff,” Hunk said.

“I have no doubt,” Shiro acknowledged. He exhaled. “It must be Sendak. I should have known…” He shook his head. “He was never going to let me go easily.” 

“Well, I mean, if it’s Sendak, we just have to kick down the door of his apartment and get Keith back, right?” Lance asked. “We know where _that_ is, and, sure, he’s almost certainly changed the locks now, so Lotor’s key won’t work anymore, but I mean, you’re supernaturally awesome, you can kick down a door, right?”

“Yeah, I can,” Shiro said. And he would _enjoy_ it. He would enjoy every bit of making Sendak pay. “And I’ll need the three of you—and Lotor and Adam, if you can reach them—to back me up.”

“Good. Great! They’ll come, no way they won’t. We’ll meet you at Sendak’s building, and we’ll kick his ass and get Keith back.” Lance said. There were noises of agreement from Pidge and Hunk.

Shiro could only hope it would be that easy. He slung his sealskin over his shoulders like a cape and strode out the door, feeling very much like he was going to war.

* * *

At Keith’s best guess, he’d been in Sendak’s walk-in closet for three or four days. It was hard to be certain, since he was locked away in the dark and Sendak wasn’t exactly timing when he tossed Keith food or hauled him, blindfolded, to the bathroom. 

It was part of the game, Keith knew—make him uncomfortable and scared and desperate, and Sendak thought he’d break. 

Keith was determined not to.

The door opened, and Sendak strode in, all poisonous smiles and flat calm. 

“Mr. Kogane,” he began, “I think I’ve been quite reasonable—”

“You fucking _kidnapped me,”_ Keith said, “and have been holding me prisoner— _fuck,”_ he was cut off with a gasp when Sendak’s shoe impacted his chest.

“—Considering that you broke into my home and absconded with my lover, and have been remarkably recalcitrant—”

“ _Your lover?_ ” Keith shot, unable to keep silent. “You kidnapped him too! Held him prisoner, with his sealskin—” Once again, Sendak’s foot slammed into his chest, and Keith went silent.

“Do shut up and stop interrupting me,” Sendak said. “In any case, I can see that you aren’t going to help me willingly. However, as Takashi is a faerie, and they don’t simply _forget_ those who assist them, I think I can bring him to us in a much more direct way.” He reached out and hauled Keith to his feet.

“What are you talking about?” Keith asked, eyes narrowed. Sendak just grinned.

“We’re going to the beach.”

* * *

As promised, there were five people waiting for Shiro in front of Sendak’s building. Adam, Lotor, Lance, Romelle, and Hunk all looked deathly serious—even Hunk, ever afraid, was still clearly nervous but had squared his shoulders and crossed his arms and done everything he could to puff himself up. 

Sendak’s building was the same as it had always been, and Shiro had to fight back a wave of revulsion. He didn’t _want_ to step through that door; he didn’t _want_ to go back into that apartment. He was finally _free,_ there should never have been another reason for him to even _look_ at that place, but Sendak couldn’t just let him go. And now Keith was in danger, because he’d helped him. Keith, who was prickly on the outside but who had softened so much. Keith, who was brave and noble and who had done everything in his power to help Shiro. 

Keith, who didn’t deserve any of this.

Keith, who needed Shiro’s help.

Keith, who Shiro loved.

“I can do this,” Shiro said under his breath. His friends were with him. They wouldn’t let Sendak keep him. _Keith_ wouldn’t let Sendak keep him. Even if he _did_ have to offer his sealskin for Keith’s safety, which Shiro saw as an incredibly likely prospect, he knew they would get him out.

It was still a terrifying prospect.

“Hey, man.” Lance’s hand rested on his shoulder, and Shiro almost jumped. “We’ve got your back.”

“I know,” Shiro said, and he took a breath and stepped forward, over the threshold of the building. 

“Mr. Shirogane!” The receptionist greeted him cheerily. “If it’s not rude to say? You look better.”

“Thanks,” Shiro said. “I _feel_ better.” Then, he dropped his voice. “Look, I think I left some stuff in my ex’s apartment, so...do you know if he’s home?” She frowned.

“I haven’t seen him,” she said, “so I’m not sure.”

“Alright,” Shiro exhaled, “well, let’s hope.”

“Good luck!” She waved him off, and Shiro gave her a brief nod. 

There was no reason for the ride up the elevator to feel as terrifying and claustrophobic as it was. Sure, there were six people in there, but there was still plenty of space, and these were friends, all stone-faced and ready to back Shiro in storming Sendak’s metaphorical castle to recover the man he loved from the clutches of the monster who had first held him prisoner, and now held his beloved. 

Still, fear clung to him, heavy as a soaked blanket, and it felt like a struggle to move down the hallway. The fear was slowly morphing into dread—dread at what he might find on the other side of that door. What Sendak might have done to punish someone who, in Sendak;’s mind, stole from him—because Shiro knew full well that he was little more than a possession, as far as his jailer had been concerned. 

“Are you alright?” Lotor asked, gently, moving to walk beside him. Shiro inhaled, and shook his head.

“No,” he said. “For a lot of reasons.” 

“I can imagine,” Lotor said softly. “If Sendak had done this to Adam…tried to harm him simply for the crime of loving me and wanting to help me get away? I…imagine I would feel much as you do, right now.”

“Guilty, scared, miserable?” Shiro said, softly. “…Scared for myself _and_ for Keith.”

“Understandably so,” Lotor said. “But you aren’t alone. We may not be magical fey creatures, but none of us intends to let harm come to you or Keith. You’re our friends.” He stepped in front of ashiro when they got to the apartment door, trying his key. “Damn,” he said, softly, when it refused to go into the lock.

“Not exactly unexpected,” Shiro said.

“No,” Lotor replied, and he stepped back.

“More forceful methods, then,” Adam said, and Shiro nodded. 

It took a single, solid, well-placed kick to send the door flying inward, with Shiro’s fae strength.

The silence that greeted him on the other side was deeply unnerving. No one within the apartment reacted to the sound of the door slamming open. 

“Well, that’s spooky,” Lance said, leaning in. “D’you think—”

Shiro was sure there was a rest of that sentence, but he didn’t hear it. The seaglass necklace around his neck began to burn, and his hand instinctively went up to clutch it—and for a moment, he saw through Keith’s eyes.

He saw Keith being shoved underwater, held by familiar huge, rough, hairy hands, and then jerked out. He felt the breath being swept from his lungs, and the burn of saltwater in his eyes, and he knew. He knew exactly where to find Keith, and how to get there. Just as his magic had carried him to Keith’s home, it would carry him to Keith’s side.

He didn’t realize that his knees had buckled and he’d fallen forward until he came to, and Adam was holding him up.

“Are you alright?” Adam asked. Shiro nodded.

“I know where Keith is. I’m going to take us there, but you’re all going to have to trust me. We can’t waste time on mortal transportation—he needs help _now.”_

“Okay,” Adam said. “Everyone?”

“Do we need to be touching you, or?” Lance asked. Shiro shook his head, and closed his eyes.

“Just be near me,” he replied. He took a deep breath, and focused on the thread of _debt-owed_ and _heart-gift_ that bound him to Keith, and imagined tugging it, and letting it pull him and his friends where they needed to be.

* * *

Shiro had no idea where this little spit of beach was. It was clearly well-hidden, and if it weren't for his magic, he doubted he would have found it. With the sun setting over the waves and bleeding into the water, it would have been beautiful, except for one terrible thing marring the view and making Shiro glad he’d been able to get there so quickly. 

Sendak was partway out to sea, holding a bound Keith down on his knees and forcing his head underwater, then pulling it back up, giving him a moment to catch his breath, and doing it again. 

Fury rose up in Shiro like the swirling of an ocean storm.

“Stay back,” he warned the little gaggle of humans who had come with him. 

“Okay,” Hunk agreed aloud, and the others nodded. Shiro nodded back and then turned towards the pair of figures in the water.

 _“Sendak!_ ” Shiro roared. From the way the others stepped away to give him space, he knew he had to be a terrifying sight. “ _Let him go!”_

Sendak narrowed his eyes.

“Give me your sealskin, and perhaps I’ll let this miserable, pathetic whelp free.” His tone was ice cold and unwavering, even though Shiro could see fear in his eyes.

“That isn’t how this works,” Shiro said, and he strode forward, into the water, feeling the sea sing in time with his rage. “You let Keith go, or I kill you. That’s it, those are your only two options.” Sendak laughed, mockingly.

“You couldn’t,” he said.

“Oh, yes, I could,” Shiro snarled. He raised a hand and gestured, and water followed, slamming into Sendak and sending him flying. With a wave of his other hand, Keih was carefully carried to shore and deposited near his friends, out of harm’s way, and Shiro strode towards Sendak, feeling a whole ocean storm raging in his heart. “I am _absolutely_ capable of killing you,” he growled. Sendak was starting to struggle out of the water, but at Shiro’s will, the ocean wrapped around his ankles and dragged him back in. “For myself. For Lotor. For Keith. For everyone else you’ve hurt, whose names I don’t even _know._ It all ends here, _Maurice_.”

“Takashi—” Sendak gasped.

“ _You don’t get to say my name,”_ Shiro snarled, and he let the water drag Maurice under, and under, and under, until Shiro was entirely certain that there was no way he would ever surface again.

As the rage and vengeance began to drain out of him, Shiro realized he was shaking. He turned to look over, and the rest of the group was staring at him in varying states of shock. 

“I had no idea you could do that,” Lance said, softly, voice full of admiration.

“An angry faerie can do a lot of things,” Shiro said, but his eyes were on Keith, whose expression was nigh inscrutable. There were so many things going on in his eyes, and he was leaning heavily on Romelle for support, and Shiro had no idea what to make of any of it. 

“…Is he really gone?” Lotor asked, in a tone that said he couldn’t quite believe what was happening.

“He’s really gone.” Shiro nodded, and Lotor broke into a smile and turned to drag Adam into a kiss. At the same moment, Keith disentangled himself from Romelle and moved over to Shiro. He stared into his eyes, silently, for a long moment, and Shiro felt his heart pick up its pace. This was…strangely terrifying. What if Keith found him horrifying, after that display of rage and power? What if killing Sendak was also the end of any chance for anything between the two of them?

And then Keith grabbed his chin and tugged him down into a fierce, soul-searing kiss, and all Shiro’s fears burnt up like mist in the morning sun. He leaned into the kiss, hungry and eager, and held it for as long as he could manage, but finally, Keith broke away.

“I love you,” Keith breathed, when they broke apart, and Shiro smiled, soft and fond.

“Keith, I…” Shiro began, and he hadn’t realized how difficult this would be to say until he had to say it, and he wished it was just the two of them, but Keith’s friends were rightfully concerned, and he wasn’t going to send them running away. He took a moment to step back, but just in case Keith got any ideas, Shiro kept a hand on his shoulder. “I want…to stay on land. With you.” Keith’s expression became puzzled, like he couldn’t quite comprehend what Shiro was saying. Shiro shifted his sealskin off his shoulders, draping it over one arm and offering it to Keith. That seemed enough to shock him out of his state of puzzlement; he made a noise of horror and held up his hands, stepping back and shaking his head.

“I’m not keeping you prisoner, Shiro,” he said, and there was something almost betrayed in his voice, like he couldn’t believe Shiro would think that of him. “There’s no way. That’s yours, keep it.”

“You don’t understand,” Shiro said, “I _can’t_ just keep it. If I stay on land past dawn, and I’m in possession of my own sealskin, I’ll die.”

“You’ll _what?”_ Keith asked.

“Selkies are bound to the sea,” Shiro said. “There are ways around it, but…the easiest is for me to _give_ you my sealskin. As a _gift._ Because I love you, and I want to be with you, and I’m entrusting it to you.” Shiro took a step forward, and offered the sealskin again, and this time Keith reached for it, taking it delicately, like it was fragile and might fall apart in his hands. “You can show me where you’re keeping it, it just has to be in _your_ possession, not mine.”

“Okay,” Keith said, and he held the sealskin close to his chest. “Okay. I can do that. I can keep it safe for you.” He smiled, soft and fond and warm. “How long do you want to stay for?”

“Forever, if you’ll have me,” Shiro said. Keith beamed.

“I like the sound of forever,” he said. 

[ ](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/618835969877213193/661285978853343250/Selkie-manga-fin.jpg)

As the sun dipped below the horizon, and her last rays bled onto the water, Shiro leaned in to seal the promise with a kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

Keith led Shiro into his apartment, and shut the door behind them, locking it carefully and taking a moment to take everything in.

“Ugh,” he said, quietly. “Sendak and his goons cleaned up after themselves. I’ll have to make sure they didn’t take anything.”

“I saw some of your stuff still here while I was looking for you,” Shiro said, idly. 

“Good,” Keith said, and he moved back into his room, frowning briefly and glancing down at the sealskin in his arms. “Okay, what qualifies it as being ‘ _ in my possession,’  _ and not yours? Is it okay if I just…” From under the bed, he produced a storage tote and opened it, revealing what was clearly a collection of winter quilts. “Can I put it in here?”

“That’ll do, yes,” Shiro said, and Keith nodded, setting it on top of the warm, thick quilt his grandmother had made when he was younger. He’d need to disturb it when things started getting cold, but that was okay. 

“Okay, uh, good,” Keith said, and then he frowned. “There’s not really anywhere for you to sleep—” He was cut off by Shiro laughing and leaning in to kiss him.

“Keith. We’re going to be sharing a bed.” Then, Shiro frowned. “Unless you don’t want that?”

“Uh,” Keith said, articulately. “No, that. That’s totally good with me,” he nodded, eagerly. “Um. I.” He reached up to push a hand through his hair, and regretted it. It felt wet and salty, and it hit him all at once that he had very recently been repeatedly shoved underwater, and he was actually cold and salty and uncomfortable, actually. “I…need to take a shower, but you can…get comfortable? Poke around, explore?” 

“Okay,” Shiro said cheerily, and even before Keith ducked into the bathroom, he was already poking around, opening drawers and glancing inside.

Keith took a deep breath, and stripped out of his still-wet clothes, letting them fall to the floor in a heap, and sighed. It was hitting him all at once how cold and uncomfortable he was, now that he was away from Shiro; he wondered, briefly, if Shiro had consciously or unconsciously done a little Selkie magic to make him feel warmer. Or maybe it was just Shiro’s presence, his intoxicating scent, everything about him. Keith sighed, and turned on the shower, giving it a moment to heat up and then stepping under the warm spray. 

He didn’t linger long—just enough to feel clean, and be sure that the salt was mostly out of his hair. He toweled off equally quickly, wrapping it around his waist, and realized that he hadn’t thought this through at all, because he was going to have to go back into his room to get any sort of clean clothes.

Oh well. Hopefully Shiro wouldn’t mind.

He pushed the door open, and discovered very suddenly that it was extremely unlikely that Shiro would mind, because Shiro was perched on his bed completely naked, except for the seaglass necklace.

“Uh,” Keith said, articulately. Shiro was absolutely  _ gorgeous,  _ all lean muscle and perfection, and with his hair down and flowing over his shoulders, he looked like something out of a Renaissance painting. 

Shiro slid off the bed and moved over to Keith, taking both sides of his face in his hands and leaning down to kiss him. Distantly, Keith observed that the prosthetic was just as warm as the flesh hand, which wasn’t all that surprising, since it was almost certainly magical. He leaned into the kiss, and made a tiny moaning noise when Shiro’s hand trailed downward and hooked in his towel.

“I told you I wanted to give you everything,” Shiro murmured, and Keith inhaled. “Unless you don’t want—?”

“Oh, no,” Keith said, “I, uh, very much do want, I just…you surprised me.” 

“Good,” Shiro said, and then he tugged Keith’s towel off in a simple, casual motion. He began backing Keith up towards the bed, and Keith’s breath hitched, but he went, pulling himself up and, when Shiro climbed on top of him, laying back. 

“You know,” Shiro said, softly, “I was already a little in love with you by the time we talked, that first sunset on the beach. I’d seen you a few times, and you were just…so beautiful. And so quiet, and so alone. I thought…” A soft, sad smile broke across his face. “I thought maybe we’d be kindred spirits in our loneliness. But it took me a long time to figure out how to approach you. And I’m just…so glad I did.”

“Me too,” Keith said, softly. He cracked a soft smile of his own. “You know, that day on the bench, when Sendak interrupted us? I was about thirty seconds away from telling you I was in love with you.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Shiro said, “which seems silly—but I would have told you I didn’t feel the same, and I’m glad we skipped  _ that  _ mess.” He leaned down and kissed Keith, and Keith sighed contentedly, happy to luxuriate in kissing Shiro, in getting to run his hands over that beautiful body and those wonderful muscles, even though he could feel his erection beginning to assert itself and Shiro’s growing to meet it. Keith rolled his hips upward, grinding against Shiro, and he elicited a tiny, needy little whine. The scent of aroused Omega was almost intoxicating, and it was deliciously thick in the air, getting stronger the longer they lay entangled.

“You’re so beautiful,” Keith murmured against Shiro’s lips.

“That sounds so nice, when you say it,” Shiro said, making a small contented noise. He sat up, straddling Keith’s hips, and hummed, a brief, considering sort of noise. “I’d really like to ride you,” he said, and his bluntness made Keith blush. 

“I, uh,” Keith said, “I’d really like it if you did.” He swallowed. “I haven’t really…done this before, so…”

“That’s okay,” Shiro said, “I have. I’ll take the lead, and I promise, I’ll make it good for you.” 

“I trust you,” Keith said, and Shiro softened, leaning down to give him another brief kiss. 

“I’ll do my best to live up to that trust,” he said, and then he shifted backwards, lifting up and settling himself down on Keith’s cock with a low moan. He was hot, and wet, and being inside him felt absolutely wonderful. Keith moaned, fucking upwards, and Shiro let out a tight gasp. “Fuck, yes, _ Keith _ !”

Hearing Shiro call his name like that just encouraged Keith to keep rolling his hips upwards, and Shiro began to bounce on his cock, matching his rhythm. He couldn’t help but stare, though, at the gorgeous lines of Shiro’s body, the arch of his back and the fall of his hair. There was a flush in his cheeks, and his head tilted back, baring a beautiful neck that Keith longed to pepper with kisses, and eventually to put a bondmark on. 

That would come later, though. They’d promised each other forever, after all.

He fucked harder into Shiro, and reached out to stroke his cock, jerking it in time with his thrusts, which made Shiro cry out with pleasure. 

“You feel so good,” Keith gasped, “so much better than…anything I could have imagined.”

“Sometimes,” Shiro purred teasingly, “the reality beats out the fantasy.”

“Definitely,” Keith gasped. “Fuck, I…Shiro, can I knot you?” He asked. Shiro’s eyes went wide, and he paused, sinking down all the way onto Keith’s cock.

“I…” Shiro swallowed, and then he nodded. “Yes. Yes, you can, I. Want you to.”

“You sure?” Keith asked, moving is free hand up to gently rub at Shiro’s hips. He stilled his thrusts and his strokes on Shiro’s cock, more concerned in the moment with making sure that Shiro was entirely okay.

“I’m sure,” Shiro said. “The…” His shoulders dropped, a little. “The last knot I took was Sendak’s. I. I want someone else’s. I want  _ yours.  _ It’s not going to undo everything that happened to me, but it’ll…help. Give me something else. Something better.” He bent down, kissing Keith slowly. “Which you’re already doing, by the way.”

“I want to,” Keith said. “Be better for you. I want to make you happy, Shiro, and make you feel good, and—” His breath hitched, and he stopped. “I just want to be good for you.”

“You are,” Shiro said, planting another brief kiss on Keith’s lips. Then, he straightened, and began to bounce on Keith’s cock again. “Alpha,  _ please, _ ” he moaned, “knot me.”

Keith fucked up into him, hands moving to grip his hips and hold him in place, and he made the pace hot and hard and fast. He shifted, sitting up so he could bury his face in Shiro’s neck and inhale the scent of _Omega, his Omega,_ and he began to kiss and nip at that wonderful, beautiful neck, which just made Shiro moan louder. He felt fingers twist in his hair, hard enough to pull, but he didn’t care—especially not once he could feel his knot swelling up and locking them together. 

He spilled inside Shiro with a loud cry, and he felt Shiro squeeze around him, and felt his come splattering onto Keith’s stomach. He lifted his head away from Shiro’s neck, leaning in to crash their lips together in a heated, sloppy, passionate kiss, and even as he came, his hips jerked, little abortive fucking motions that drew gasps and whines from Shiro even while their tongues tangled together in a filthy, wet dance. Finally, Shiro sagged against him, head dropping onto his shoulder, and nuzzled against his neck, letting out a soft, contented sigh.

“My Alpha,” he purred, “my Keith. So good to me.” Keith made a contented noise right back, and wrapped an arm around Shiro’s waist. They’d be tied together for a while, so he shifted them into a more comfortable position leaning against his pillows.

“Love you,” Keith murmured against Shiro’s hair. Shiro nodded.

“Love you too.”

They stayed there for what felt like hours, and finally, with Shiro still contentedly cuddled in his arms, Keith drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on [tumblr!](https://twitter.com/noirsongbird>twitter</a>%20or%20<a%20href=)


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